Category Archives: short hops

ESPN Releases it’s Sunday Night Baseball Schedule: Honestly, it’s not worth a full post. ESPN turned around and loaded the schedule for the first-half of the season with a bunch of large market teams. The Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds, two teams who are talented and will be very competitive did not crack it one time. Yes, there are a lot of ways to watch your team if you want to see them. But it’s still nice to close out a weekend with someone other than the Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers, Mets, Red Sox, Braves, White Sox or Cardinals involved. [Hardball Talk]

ZiPS looks at the 2013 Washington Nationals Projections It’s never too early to start looking at ZiPS projections, and somehow during those two dead weeks of the holidays we forgot to throw this up on the site. The one thing I don’t like about ZiPS is it isn’t quite as optimistic as good ol’ Bill James, but it often offers a more realistic snapshot of what you’re likely to see from said player in the following year. But Bryce Harper with just 26 home runs and 29 doubles? I’ll sign up for the over right now. [FanGraphs]

Cincinnati Reds Official 2012 Promotions Schedule Released: Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Sean Casey bobblehead nights are all back, as well as Scott Rolen replica Rawlings Gold Glove night. If you want a Reds beer stein or Reds lawn flag, get down to the ballpark. Personally, me and the wife are eyeballing our first ‘Bark in the Park’ night in April with our “son” Bentley. [Better Off Red]

The Right Fielder of the Decade. Rob Neyer lays out who will be the top right fielder of the next decade, and we like his rankings pretty well. He makes a few mistakes by saying that Jay Bruce has avoided injury so far, and says that Heyward’s season last year was more impressive than any season Bruce or Justin Upton have ever put together; but altogether it’s a really solid read and makes you realize who the stars of tomorrow really are. [SB Nation]

A good, FREE look at the Reds top prospects from Baseball Prospectus: They sum up the system in 20 words or less as “It’s a system with plenty of star power up front, but depth falls away quickly after that”. It’s scary to see how far former 1st round draft pick Yonder Alonso has fallen. We had a feeling that he had a little Erubiel Durazo in him.[Baseball Prospectus]

Five Questions with Jay Bruce. It’s an old interview, but it’s definitely worth giving a read. “You know what? I plan on leaving money on the table, I plan on outperforming this contract, because that would probably mean I’m playing well and we’re winning here in Cincinnati. I’ll tell you what, yeah, OK, say I left money on the table, you’re talking a ridiculous… it’s an absurd amount. It’s not bad what I took from the table. I plan on outperforming it, that’s the best case for me, leaving money on the table. I’ll make it up in the long run and it’s not a big deal. The money took care of itself, the money’s going to be there. It’s just a blast.” Man do we love this guy. [CBS Sportsline MLB Facts & Rumors]

Reds get 17 national television games in 2011. Although I’m slightly disappointed at the fact that they get no Sunday Night Baseball games at home, I’ll take the national exposure. Plus FOX Saturday Baseball really is better than Sunday night baseball. And they host four of those contests. This really is going to be the best season ever known to man as long as they don’t struggle out of the gates. [Red Reporter]

CarGo is about to get paid big.Initially the Colorado-based media was pretty quiet about the possibility, but Troy Renck of the Denver Post tweeted that he “would be surprised if deal doesn’t get done” and pegged the details as $80 million for seven years. [Hardball Talk]

Zips 2011 Cincinnati Reds Projections. I realize these are all quantitative, but I have a hard time believing Jay Bruce will go backwards in OBP while remaining flat in slugging percentage. I can’t imagine he goes backwards next year. [Baseball Think Factory]

Heartbreaking story of loss and tragedy for Padres Correia. “A box seat at a Major League Baseball game entitles fans to a close-up view of the action but no access to hearts and minds. If your favorite player seems preoccupied, maybe it’s because he’s worried about a sick child at home or coping with marital issues or some other personal trauma. A multi-million dollar contract and a shoe deal might make an athlete feel special, but those perks don’t earn him a lifetime dispensation from reality.” [ESPN]

Was the Braves hiring of Fredi Gonzalez a mistake? “Quite simply I think this is a huge mistake. Fredi Gonzalez is not Bobby Cox. Just because he has worked with Bobby Cox does not mean he will be as effective as Bobby Cox. He won’t. The thing that made Bobby so great was his ability to get the most from his players. They always played hard, they never quit, they never said a single bad thing about him. A lot of this is a result of Bobby’s players-first management style, but also a result of Bobby’s personality. Fredi and Bobby do not have identical personalities, and Fredi will not be able to command the same type of respect from his players. He won’t be able to get as much out of them as Bobby did.” [Capitol Avenue Club]

Rumors again swirl that former great Robby Alomar has AIDS/HIV. “According to Pilar’s allegations, Alomar “knew prior to his first sexual contact with [her] that he was HIV-positive.” Pilar alleges that Alomar lied about the illness, claiming that he had been tested and was clean. According to the lawsuit, she learned after the wedding that those were lies, gaining “conclusive proof” that he was HIV-positive. The filing also says Pilar would never have married Alomar if she had known the truth.” [Fanhouse]

Position by Position breakdown of Reds-Phils NLDS: “It took all 162 games of the regular season, but the Phillies finally found their opponent for the National League Division Series: the Cincinnati Reds. They led the NL in offense, but finished last among the four playoff contestants in their runs-allowed average. Their pitching staff isn’t as deep as the Phillies’ but is nonetheless formidable, thanks in part to the third-best defense as rated by UZR. Still, the Reds are going to try to win the series by mashing the baseball. First baseman Joey Votto led the league in wOBA and Scott Rolenhad the second-highest wOBA among third basemen. How do the Reds compare to the Phillies? Let’s dig into the stats.” [Crashburn Alley]